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Bernanke Defends Recovery Efforts in Rare TV Interview

By

Brian Blackstone

Updated March 15, 2009 7:21 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON -- In a rare direct message to the American people, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke appeared on CBS TV's "60 Minutes" and defended government actions being taken to shore up the banking system, saying that a recovery won't happen until the financial system stabilizes.

And the self-professed "Main Street" guy, who once worked construction and waited tables in a poncho, delivered a strong rebuke to some on Wall Street, saying "the era of this high living, this is over now."